Anyone less than 20 years old has no reference for comparison. They don’t know a world without it.

Those who are older realize we didn’t have all the answers to our many questions at our fingertips. Now we can communicate instantly with anyone we please, post our pictures and share our opinions on various social sites, do our jobs from home or find millions of other things to occupy our time in front of a computer.

We can earn high school diplomas and college degrees.

We can shop online and have access to breaking news. It allows us to be a more proactive rather than reactive society. Up-to-the-minute weather reports, for example, help save lives.

It has globally connected us.

The technology is mobile. It is installed in our cars and small enough to package in our phones.

The technology has also morphed and replicated itself, turning into a dynamic phenomenon with seemingly infinite possibilities.

The world was a much less complex place prior to 1993.

In earlier times, many people shared party telephone lines and waited patiently for their neighbors to end their conversations before using the telephone — or they could actually listen in if they so desired.

We were a much more active society.

In most cities and towns, almost anyone could find a job if they wanted one.

Our identities weren’t shared across the world.

We weren’t bombarded with spam on a daily basis.

The price of utilities and commodities were affordable to the average citizen.

We were a less violent society.

There were no such things as “online” predators.

When we sought answers to difficult questions we knew the best place to search was the library.

We penned hand-written letters to distant friends and family and mailed them via the U.S. Postal Service, along with any photos we wanted to share.

We played checkers and chess, which seldom brought on carpal tunnel syndrome.

We earned our diplomas and college degrees by attending accredited schools made of brick and mortar.

We drove or carpooled to work. When we traveled into unfamiliar territory we stopped and asked directions.

We shopped at Belk, J.C. Penney and other popular chain stores or patronized the local independent shopkeeper, who sometimes trusted customers to pay when they could.

We trusted the newspaper to bring us the most recent news. We knew it to be a credible source of information.

What did we do before the Internet and where would be without it? Those are questions that are interesting to ponder but ultimately theoretical in nature. The reality is, the World Wide Web is here to stay.

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A version of this editorial first appeared in the Lexington Dispatch, a Halifax Media Group newspaper in North Carolina.